The Chicago Bears embarked on a new era in February 2023 with the purchase of a site in Arlington Heights where the team hopes to build a new enclosed stadium with a massive entertainment and residential development.
But the team has hit a financial roadblock in their proposed move to Arlington Heights, and now other municipalities have been vying in a sort of roulette to attract — or in Chicago’s case, keep — the team.
Naperville, Rockford, Chicago and, most recently, Waukegan and Aurora have placed themselves in the running to land the white whale of the NFL — though some officials concede the team may be using them for leverage in negotiations with Arlington Heights.
Here’s what to know about the possible move from Soldier Field.
What’s new — and where do things stand?
Arlington Heights village officials have proposed a compromise over the Bears’ property tax for the site of a potential domed stadium in the suburb that would significantly cut the team’s tax bill. The village proposed an agreement to accept the Cook County Board of Review’s assessed value of $124.7 million for the 2023 and 2024 tax years.
The property would be assessed at the 25% commercial rate for half of 2023 and the 10% vacant property rate for the other half, resulting in a total tax liability of $6.3 million, according to Arlington Heights’ Feb. 27 proposal, which the village released publicly late Monday after an open records request by the Tribune.
The news comes after the Bears said on March 11 that they were prepared to provide $2 billion in private funding for a new publicly owned enclosed stadium and park space in the city.
The lakefront site would replace Soldier Field and increase open space on the museum campus by 20%, and provide a prime location to host the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four and year-round community events, a source familiar with the deal said. But questions — and possible opposition — were immediate.
A poll showed that 80% of Chicagoans support a museum campus location, and 77% want to keep the team in the city, the source said. The poll of 500 registered voters by McGuire Research also found 60% of Chicagoans support using public money for a publicly owned stadium.
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If not Chicago, then where? Breaking down the growing list of stadium options.
Naperville
The Bears have quickly had two meetings with city officials, after Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli wrote to invite the team to talk. The mayor said he’s had very preliminary discussions with Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren.
Wehrli has said he wants to develop underused properties along the Interstate 88 tollway, where the former BP Amoco site would be more than big enough at 187 acres.
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Waukegan
Waukegan Mayor Ann Taylor wrote a letter Monday to Warren, proposing that the Bears build a new stadium on lakefront property.
Several locations Taylor cited have the space for a stadium and entertainment area with access to Interstate 94, U.S. Route 41 and public transportation. The Bears already train in Lake Forest, 9 miles south of Waukegan.
Aurora
Mayor Richard Irvin has invited the Bears to consider relocating to the suburb.
In a letter from Irvin to the Bears, he touts Aurora’s history, location and track record of getting developments done. The letter comes on the heels of President/CEO Kevin Warren saying recently that the Bears are “in a position to start exploring other places and opportunities and no longer considers Arlington Heights as a singular focus.”
Rockford
State Rep. Dave Vella, a Democrat from Rockford, told the Tribune he’d like his city to have a chance at bringing the Bears there.
While acknowledging that Rockford is 90 miles from Chicago, he touted Rockford’s transportation development and how that could be used at Bears fans’ convenience.
Richton Park
In a letter to Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren, Richton Park Mayor Rick Reinbold touted large expanses of available land and the south suburb’s proximity to highways and the Metra Electric Line.
“I understand how the complexity of completing a stadium deal at the former Arlington Park site can be frustrating,” Reinbold told Warren in the July 21 letter. “Allow me to interest you in greenfield opportunities awaiting the Bears in Richton Park!”
Country Club Hills
Cook County Commissioner Monica Gordon is encouraging the football team to consider Country Club Hills, throwing what her office described as a “Hail Mary pass” to encourage the team to consider the south suburb.
Gordon said in a news release she and Country Club Hills Mayor James Ford “are imploring the team to look at the south suburbs as an opportunity to have a positive economic impact on a part of the Chicagoland area that is ignored all too often.” “We’re taking our shot in the dark here,” Ford said.
Arlington Heights
The main difference between Arlington Heights and the other sites, of course, is that the Bears own property there — and demolition has begun. The site is big enough for a stadium and a huge proposed housing and entertainment complex. It has a Metra train station and is next to Route 53, not far from the I-90 tollway.
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Chicago
Mayor Brandon Johnson said he wanted to keep the team in the city and met with Warren about what they called their shared commitment to the city.
Johnson didn’t offer any specifics, but the mayor said it’s important to have conversations to keep the Bears “shuffling” in Chicago, a reference to the team’s only Super Bowl win, in 1986.
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- Chicago’s Soldier Field: A timeline of events since 1924, including hosting the world’s athletes, congregations, politicians and performers
- What are the costs if the Bears bail on Chicago for Arlington Heights?
What would happen to Soldier Field without the Bears?
The divorce is far from a foregone conclusion — the Bears have simply taken the next step, one they’ve been telegraphing for over a year.
If the team leaves Soldier Field, Friends of the Parks Executive Director Juanita Irizarry said she hopes the stadium can host many more concerts each year, easing the increasingly controversial burden on neighborhood parks for big musical events such as Riot Fest in Douglass Park and the recently announced Re:SET festival in Riis Park. Read more here.
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- Developer details ‘reimagined’ domed Soldier Field in ‘Hail Mary’ bid to keep Bears in Chicago. Take the 6-minute video tour.
- A Bears move may leave thousands of fans with worthless Soldier Field seat licenses
What are the Bears saying?
Bears Chairman George McCaskey and president/CEO Ted Phillips sat down with the Tribune in 2022. Here are some of their answers on how the Arlington project will be handled as Phillips prepares to depart, how Phillips reflects on his tenure and much more. Read it here.
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What’s the history of the team in Chicago?
While the Bears have called Soldier Field home since 1971, the team has discussed or proposed playing its games elsewhere throughout much of the last 50 years.
Wrigley Field served as the original home venue for the team when it moved to Chicago in 1921 and remained there through 1970. The team won nearly 70% of its home games during that span.
But the Bears were forced to find a new home after the American Football League merged with the National Football League and required stadiums to seat at least 50,000 fans. The team played its last game at Wrigley Field on Dec. 13, 1970, beating the Packers 35-17. Read more here.
Why Arlington Heights?
If the Bears dare to dream big about a new stadium in Arlington Heights, they can find inspiration in SoFi Stadium, the new star attraction of the NFL.
The league’s largest and most expensive arena and the site of the Super Bowl, SoFi, just outside Los Angeles, is overwhelming fans with its sweeping curves and epic scale. The stadium and its development highlight certain parallels to the Bears’ proposal to buy and redevelop Arlington International Racecourse. Both reflect desires to leave century-old stadiums and home cities for vast sites that allow for planned enclaves of surrounding restaurants, hotels, offices, stores and homes. Read more here.
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- Arlington International Racecourse: History of one of the ‘world’s most beautiful racetracks’
What are fans saying?
Some fans expressed a draft day-like optimism that better days are ahead. They dreamed openly of shorter concessions, easier parking, better tailgating opportunities and a domed stadium that protected them from biting winter winds.
“I’ve been to multiple stadiums in the NFL and Soldier Field does not compete with any of them,” Bears season ticket holder Neal Shah of Wheaton said. “On game days, the television crews show an aerial view of the stadium, which is beautiful, but the logistics are terrible.” Read more here.
- At tailgates outside Soldier Field, the Bears’ possible departure is a burning issue: ‘Arlington Heights, if they move, here I come’
- Would travel to a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights be better or worse than Soldier Field? It depends on how you get there, fans say.
- A Bears move to Arlington Heights would be a ‘win-win’ to many. But about that traffic and construction …
